I can't find them anywhere locally where I live anymore. They used to be everywhere, in drugstores, grocery stores, etc. The only thing left is the CVS brand, which is re-branded GEM Blue Star I believe. And I am not a fan of those since my hard water makes them rust easily. Is this something that has happened nationally, or is it just my area?
Do any stores around you still sell GEM Stainless blades?
- Thread starter AHamilton
- Start date
I live in one of the 8 largest Metro areas of the US and I haven't seen GEM blades of any type in retail stores in years. Pharmacies and supermarkets near me only sell maybe cheapo Van Der Hagen razors and generic DE blades. You wouldn't know that anyone still used DE and SE razors from shopping at my retail stores. Of course, GEM blades are widely available online.
Yes, we have a local store here that sells them. Not GEM branded, and they aren't great, but... they are available, cheap.
Yes, there is a store (locally owned pharmacy)in this awful, dying rust belt city which sells them. They also carry Williams pucks and German Wilkinson DE blades.
Last edited:
I can get that same CVS pack you mentioned and that's about it in my neighborhood. Thank goodness for online retailing!
^^^ This ^^^
Some Walgreens carry them. The ones closest to me don't stock it but others nearby do. Not worth driving it when Walgreens ship-to-store is free.
Some CVS and Walgreens stores do.
No, the ones sold as store brands in CVS & RiteAid are usually stainless steel Personnas. They don't have the fancy Teflon coating that can be found online, but they're still stainless and still very good blades.
The gem blue stars are carbon steel and very prone to rust easily, ...but those aren't the CVS store brand.
The blades I bought from CVS are clearly not stainless.
I buy mine in bulk so I rarely check the drug store racks, but I know that Walgreen's had their re-branded version the last time I was in there.
The overwhelming majority of shave-worthy GEM blades are sold to laboratories - could be that the labs are taking most of the production in these Covid times....
The overwhelming majority of shave-worthy GEM blades are sold to laboratories - could be that the labs are taking most of the production in these Covid times....
Oh Wow, I just did some googling and you're right! CVS and Riteaid do seem to be using the blue star carbons for their store brands' blades,... but Walgreens carries the super stainless Gem by Personna.
Mods please delete my above post of totally wrong info
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #13
Well, good to know it's not just me and the area I live in. But it's very frustrating. Not that I mind buying online, but I would like to be able to just pick them up whenever I want while running other errands. Oh well.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
This is were I bought mine and they are good folks to deal with and they have the Gem Personna SS PTFE made in the USA. they are very good blades, Very sharp, great longevity and are predictable for longevity and smooth out nicely as a person shaves!
With the strong USA dollar it is a bargin for Americans even with shipping, it takes about 2-3> weeks to arrive by mail.
With the strong USA dollar it is a bargin for Americans even with shipping, it takes about 2-3> weeks to arrive by mail.
GEM by Personna Stainless Coated Single Edge Razor Blades
Connaught Shaving is supplier of quality, traditional shaving products including Wickham 1912 shaving soaps, REX, Merkur & Edwin Jagger safety razors & many brands double edge razor blades. UK Supplier of Feather New Hi-stainless razor blades, Feather Artist Club Razors & Blades & Feather Safety...
connaughtshaving.com
No Gem blades in the drugstores in my little western Canadian town. Not even any Gem razors in the thrift shops, antique stores or garage sales -- which makes me think this area never had Gem available back when. It's only about 125 years old, and we can get a pretty good picture of what life was like here by looking to see what artifacts come up for sale and comparing them to archival material.
I lately noticed that the only DE blades sold locally in drugstores have now disappeared as well. Williams pucks went away a few months back.
We still have lots of blue containers of Wilkinson Sword shave cream, which smells like it was compounded mainly from recycled urinal deodorizers.
O.H.
I lately noticed that the only DE blades sold locally in drugstores have now disappeared as well. Williams pucks went away a few months back.
We still have lots of blue containers of Wilkinson Sword shave cream, which smells like it was compounded mainly from recycled urinal deodorizers.
O.H.
The internet is wherever my phone is, so any GEM blade online is available frighteningly locally.
As I read this post I realized that, despite being walking distance from 2 drug stores, I have never purchased a blade from a brick and mortar store in all the years I've been shaving.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Gem mfg made a big mistake not trying to capture some of the Canadian shaving market like Gillette , Schick & Valet auto-strop did. They did not see a need at the time is my guess or lots of other brands saturated the market to choose from already.
I stopped in our local Rite-Aid pharmacy last night - they had their store-branded (Day-Logic) Personna GEM SE and DE blades on the peg in the shaving aisle.
In Brattleboro Vermont you can get daylogic blades at rite aid. At hannafords supermarkets you can get gem blue star blades.
Similar threads
